.hello dearies.

Yeah, nothing too exciting, I just wanted to pop in and say hey. I've been in the kitchen a little bit in the last few weeks but haven't made anything noteworthy. In fact, I'm kind of bummed, today is my birthday and I have nothing to share with y'all. I might saute some veggies for dinner but that's about it. No cake, no wine, nothing to write home to mom about. In fact, I ate a Wendy's spicy chicken sandwich for lunch. I'm pretty sure that's a blogger faux pas.

Anyways, if anyone would like to send me a nanny that would be great. I could definitely cook and clean then. :) Until I get a nanny though I'll just spend all day spoiling the baby and watching Netflix.

XO

.let's talk baby.

Hey! Just dropping a quick update. I had my beautiful, amazing, perfect baby girl last Friday! The little stinker was a week late but so worth it.

What this means, however, is still no cooking or new posts from me. I will be getting back in the kitchen as soon as I can, but it will likely be a little bit. We are busy working out schedules and routines and learning to be kick ass parents, which is a little more important to us right now.

Check back though! Once I have something for y'all I will try to make it the tastiest something out there!

XO

.daring bakers challenge: july.

Well, first of all yes, I know it is now August. I was very late getting started on the challenge and even then realized I wasn't going to do it justice.

The July challenge was a fresh fraisier. A gorgeous chiffon cake, with fresh fruit, pastry cream, simple syrup and a marzipan top.

I decided I wanted to at least do a portion of it so today I made a chiffon cake which turned out to be the ugliest thing I've ever seen. As most ugly food items go, however, it was super delicious. Moist, fluffy, light and airy. It screams "summer cake!" So, I made it into something that didn't have to be pretty at all: A trifle!


I added fresh strawberries and fresh whipped cream to the mix and what came out was a lovely dessert for a warm summer evening.

XO

.pizza for your patience.

Oh. Uh. Hi guys. *sheepish look*

So... uh.... yeah. Long time no see. Not really sure what happened this month. I kind of just dropped off the face of the earth I guess. Unfortunately I'll probably do the same when the baby gets here next month.

I do have something way tasty to share with you though! And perhaps it will make up for my lack of posting? Yeah, okay, it's not really that great so it probably won't. It is most delicious though.

I made an awesome, super quick and easy, homemade pizza! And I didn't even burn the bottom this time. Go me! The dough I made for the crust is probably the easiest pizza dough ever. It only requires about 15 minutes of rise time. I love this because it's great for super busy folks. Nobody wants to sit around waiting for dough to rise for an hour! You can make this with all purpose flour or, as I did, with half wheat flour.

Fastest Pizza Dough Ever makes 1 large pizza crust or 2 large thin crusts
1 package of yeast
1 cup warm water
1 tablespoon oil
1 1/2 cups whole wheat flour
1 cup all purpose flour
Pinch of salt

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees.

Place yeast and warm water in a mixer bowl. Let the yeast dissolve. Stir in the oil, flour and salt. Stir to combine into a ball then knead the dough for 10 minutes. Place the dough back in the bowl and cover with a clean tea towel. Place the bowl on top of the stove over the warm oven. Let rise for 15 minutes.

Spray a baking sheet with a cooking spray, or lightly oil. Take the dough out of the bowl and knead for another few minutes. You can roll it out with a rolling pin or just use your hands to stretch it out on the pan like I did. Prick around the dough with a fork and cook for 10 minutes. Remove from oven and place sauce, cheese and desired toppings on the pizza. Bake for another 12-14 minutes. Last night I used mozzarella cheese, olives, baby bella mushrooms and goat cheese. It was delish!


Enjoy!

XO